Conventional compact motor-compressors including a compressor directly coupled with a high-speed electric motor have been developed and are often utilized in a myriad of industrial processes (e.g., petroleum refineries, offshore oil production platforms, and subsea process control systems) to compress a process fluid. The compact motor-compressors may combine the high-speed electric motor with the compressor, such as a centrifugal compressor, in a single, hermetically-sealed housing. Through shared or coupled rotary shafts supported by a bearing system, the high-speed electric motor may drive or rotate the compressor to thereby compress the process fluid.
As the high-speed electric motor drives the compressor, heat may be generated by electrical systems configured to deliver electrical energy to a stator of the high-speed electric motor. Additional heat may also be generated through windage friction resulting from the rotating components operating in the compressed process fluid. Improper management of the heat may reduce operational efficiencies and may ultimately result in damage to the compact motor-compressors and/or components thereof (e.g., insulation of the stator). Additionally, increased temperatures resulting from the improper management of the heat may cause the bearing system to fail, which may cause the rotary shafts supported by the bearing system to fall onto adjacent mechanical surfaces.
In view of the foregoing, conventional compact motor-compressors may often utilize cooling systems (e.g., a semi-closed loop cooling system or a closed loop cooling system) to circulate a cooling fluid through the compact motor-compressors to manage the heat. The cooling fluid utilized in the cooling systems may often be the compressed process fluid from the compressor and may often contain contaminants (e.g., solids and/or liquids) that may compromise the integrity of the electrical systems and/or reduce the efficacy of the cooling systems by blocking flow passages or lines thereof. While the cooling systems may often incorporate filters (e.g., coalescing filters) to remove the contaminants from the compressed process fluid, the substantial costs of routinely maintaining and servicing the coalescing filters may be cost-prohibitive. Further, the cost associated with maintaining and servicing the coalescing filters may often be exacerbated when the compact motor-compressors are remotely located (e.g., subsea).
What is needed, then, is an improved system and method for reducing contaminants in a process fluid introduced into a cooling system of a compact motor-compressor.